Air feed for diving suits



March 28, 193.9. E TPPER f152,111

' AIR FEED FOR DIVING UITS Filed Nov. 24, 1937 Patented Mar. 28, 1939 Ernst Topper, erlin-Neukolln, Germany, assigner A of one-halftov William Hamilton Martin, London, England A Application November Z4, 1937, Serial No. 176,334 In Germany November 28, 1936` :9 claims'. (or. e1-7o) This invention relates to air feed devices, for diving suits of the general kind in which a helmet is attached by flange or like means to the shoulder and neck part of the rest of the suit.

An object of the invention is the provision of air feed means which will not unduly inconvenience the diver by readily fouling obstacles.

A further object is the provision of air feed means which ensure more or less uniform ventilation within the helmet.

A further object is the provision of air feed means which are positioned in a more convenient manner .than hitherto.

Yet another object is the provision of an improved connection between the helmet and therest of a divers suit. Further objects may become apparent when the invention has been understood from the following description.

In existing arrangements, it is usual to provide a stub-pipe or spigot projecting from the helmet and to connect the airline thereto; this arrangement has drawbacks, chiefly in that it is easily fouled by obstacles, which are overcome by the present invention.

The invention is illustrated in one example, in the accompanying diagrammatic drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a rear elevational View of a helmet with its joint in section. n

Figure 2 is a broken plan view of a shoulderpiece and associated parts.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional View of an assembled joint.

In the drawing the helmet I is shown having an attachmentflange 2 which has say three holes in it for the passage of securing bolts. The shoulder-piece 3 of the diving suit also has a flange 4 similarly perforated for bolts. 'I'he flanges 2 and 4 are channelled as shown at 2A and 4A respectively, so that they are in effect hollow and have air chambers in them. These chambers communicate with the bolt perforations. The chamber 2A is open to the interior of the helmet I through'a slot at 5, but preferably has its channel overlapped by an annular rim of metal 6 for the purpose of deilecting incoming air upwardly and uniformly into the helmet, rather than projecting it straight against the divers face or neck. The flange 4 has its channel or chamber closed by the upper edge of the shoulder-piece 3. To the shoulder-piece there may be attached through the medium of bars 3A, usual ballast weights such as the slab of lead 1. Projecting downwardly and outwardly from the flange 4 is a boss 8, the hollow interior of which communicates with the chamber 4A openly. Secured in this boss is an air spigot 9 which has a union nut III serving to connect to the union 9 an .elbow pipe II, to which there is again connected by the union I2 the airline I3. The unions at I0 and I2 are preferably such as to permit rotation. A spring-loaded non-return valve I4 is provided within the boss 8 to prevent escape of air backwards up the airline or out of the suit, should a union such as I0 fail or the airline be broken. The flanges 2, 4 are assembled together by the passage through their perforations of tubular bolts I5capped by blind nuts I 6 which preferably have yieldable sealing washers IGA. The bore of a bolt I5 communicates by radial holes with the chambers 2A, 4A. Between the flanges 2 and 4 there are nipped the rubber flange I'I of the divers suit and also, preferably, a at rubber washer or gasket I8, I1 and I8 being perforated for the bolts I5.

'Ihe helmet is` thus attached to the body part of the suit by means of a joint which can be made completely airor water-tight, and which at the same time serves to transmit through itself the whole of the air supplied to the interior of the suit by the airline I3. The channel 2A opening all round the helmet gives an even or uniform entry of air and a member such as 6 if provided, deiiects that air so as to avoid objectionable air currents. The attachment of the airline I3 to 'the flange 4 is inconspieuous and can readily enable the airline I3 to lead down the divers back and side where if desired it may be naturally held in the hand or loosely attached, for example, to a waist-belt.

What I claim is:

1. In a diving suit, the combination of a hollow helmet flange, a hollow flange on the body portion, and hollow interattaching means for said flanges, the whole thereby acting as an air passage.

2. In a diving suit, the combination of a hollow helmet flange, a hollow flange of the body portion, and hollow bolts to pass through perforations of said flanges for mechanically interattaching them and forming air passages therebetween.

3. In a diving suit, the combination of a hollow helmet flange, a hollow flange on the body portion, hollow bolts to form a connection between said flanges, and a third ange of the flexible part of the suit adapted to be nipped between said hollow flanges.

4. In a diving suit, the combination of a hollow helmet ange, a hollow flange of the body portion, hollow bolts for interconnecting said flanges, and

valved airline connection means to the second of said flanges.

5. In a diving suit, the combination of a helmet, a flange therefor of channel section opening inwardly into said helmet, a rigid shoulder-piece, a channelled ange on said shoulder-piece, a flexible body portion, a ange on said body portion being adapted to lie between said rst and second anges, an airline union to the second of said flanges, and hollow interattachment means passing through all said flanges and forming air passages therebetween.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5, in which said helmet ange is provided withan internal deflecting element across its channel.

7. In combination, a diving helmet, a channelsectioned securing ange rigid with said helmet, a rubber body portion, an outwardly extending ange formed integrally with said body portion around the neck thereof, a metal rigid shoulderpiece, an outwardly extending hollow flange rigid with said shoulder-piece, air union means to connect an airline to said flange of said shoulderpiece, hollow bolts with radial holes to interattach and interconnect said helmet and said shoulder-piece flanges and blind nuts for said bolts.

8. In a diving suit, a helmet, a connecting ange on the helmet, said flange having an air passage therein with a substantially continuous opening into the interior of the suit, and connecting means Vincluding a hollow bolt extending through the flange and formed with a port which communicates with the passage, the hollow bolt also serving as a conduit for air to the interior of the ange.

9. A construction as defined in claim 1, wherein the .hollow helmet flange opens uniformly into and around the helmet.

ERNST TPPER. 2o 

